The Edmonton Oilers were officially eliminated from playoff contention by the Calgary Flames in the latest installment of the Battle of Alberta.
Owen Nolan scored with 3:44 remaining to lift the visiting Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Oilers at Rexall Place on Tuesday night.
Flames goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff foils Jarret Stoll in Tuesday's 3-2 triumph.
(John Ulan/Canadian Press)
Dion Phaneuf's point shot was deflected sideways by Matthew Lombardi, but Nolan spied the loose puck in the slot and fired it past a sprawling Dwayne Roloson for the decisive goal, his first in 22 games and 16th of the season.
"You have got to tip your hat to Edmonton," Nolan said. "They played really well the last couple of months to get themselves back into the race.
"They have got a lot of heart. But we have got a lot of heart here too, and we want to continue to win."
Nolan finished with a goal and an assist, while Adrian Aucoin and Alex Tanguay had the other goals for the Flames (41-29-10).
Lombardi and Phaneuf provided two assists apiece, and Miikka Kiprusoff made 28 saves.
Daymond Langkow, who missed Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks because of the death of his father-in-law, returned to the lineup.
"We found a way to win the game, and that is what it is about at this time of year - winning games in different ways," Flames captain Jarome Iginla said.
Calgary sits seventh overall in the Western Conference, one point behind the Colorado Avalanche, who clinched a playoff berth by beating the ninth-place Vancouver Canucks 4-2.
Both the Flames and Canucks have two games left to play, while the Avalanche have one.
Edmonton won 13 of 19 games to stay in the hunt, but the eighth-place Nashville Predators rallied to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in overtime and move three points ahead of the Oilers, who have one game remaining.
"We believed we could get in, and that we had the type of team that could make some noise," Oilers forward Jarret Stoll said. "We cannot feel sorry for ourselves.
"We battled hard when a lot of things were against us. And we never once used those excuses."
"Our guys laid it on the line every night for a long time," Oilers defenceman Steve Staios noted. "We knew we were in a tough spot.
"But we played our hearts out. It is just disappointing."
Two goals for Glencross
Rookie Curtis Glencross scored twice for the Oilers (40-35-6) on a pair of saucer passes from Kyle Brodziak.
Glencross opened the scoring 10:22 into the contest, settling Brodziak's pass into the slot before firing a low wrist shot by Kiprusoff for his 14th.
Aucoin answered back with his 10th on a power play, scoring on a shot from the slot that banked in off rookie rearguard Denis Grebeshkov.
"After they got one [goal], we settled down on the bench and had a little bit of a push and got that goal right back," Iginla said. "It was great."
Calgary went ahead 2-1 on a fluke goal with three seconds left in the second period from Tanguay, who unleashed a desperation shot from the side boards that caromed in off Roloson's stick.
It looked like Tanguay's 17th would stand as the winner, but Brodziak sprung Glencross for a gorgeous breakaway goal at 13:17 of the third period.
Roloson faced just 17 shots in defeat.
With files from the Canadian Press
